A former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ekiti State, Owoseni Ajayi, has dismissed insinuations that the 2023 general elections will be keenly contested among three leading presidential candidates.

Ajayi, a chieftain of the Social Democratic Party in the state, maintained that the battle for the presidency was between the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

He said, “Although the three leading presidential candidates are Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of Labour Party, the battle is between Tinubu and Atiku.”

The former AG said in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, said, “We have three principal presidential candidates; if you look at the credentials of the three of them, when you look at their pedigree, age and sagacity, Peter Obi is the best, but if Obi wins in two states, it must be from the South-East.

“The LP candidate has no structures to win election. Campaigning on social media cannot yield result in Nigeria of today. In Ekiti State today, where is the structure of the LP? Who is their chairman in the state and for most of the states in the country?

“On the election day, elections are determined and won by the structures of the political parties because they are the ones to arrange the agents, mobilise members to come out and vote on election day.

“Even in Anambra State where Obi comes from and was governor, the All Progressives Grand Alliance is ruling there. APGA has a presidential candidate. Unless Obi is able to persuade Governor Charles Soludo, that is the only way he can be able to secure 50 per cent votes in Anambra State,” Ajayi said.

Reacting, the LP Chairman in Ekiti State, Odunayo Okunade, said, “Obi will capitalise on the fact that he is the best among the three principal presidential candidates in terms of academic record, pedigree, agility and ability to move round to win the 2023 election.

“As against what they are saying, the LP and the Obi movement are well structured and we are working. By the time the campaigns start, that is when they will know that this political party and candidate are well structured.

“Again, politics in Nigeria has gone beyond the type of structures the opponents are talking about. Obi’s supporters are committed and the fold is expanding by the day. Asking where the LP or its chairman in Ekiti is, let them wait; by the time campaigns start, we will know who is on the ground.

“We will not tell them our tactics and plans. Across the country and in Ekiti State, we are working. The structures are in place in the 16 local government areas and 177 wards in Ekiti State. By the special grace of God, we will have 2023,” the LP chairman said.